Luke 4:40-44

40As the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to Jesus;

and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them.41Demons also came out of many, shouting, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah.

42At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds were looking for him; and when they reached him, they wanted to prevent him from leaving them. 43But he said to them, ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.’44So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.

There are so many needs; there is so much pain and brokenness. The crowds clamour for attention. Everyone wants to be healed. Everyone wants to find their way out of the wilderness.

But, even Jesus did not, fix all the pain or resolve all the suffering that came across his path. Jesus just walked away. He left people unhealed. He left hearts broken, minds diseased, and the world community trapped in its desperate dysfunction.

Jesus did not come to be a fix-it man on the horizontal plane. He left things in this material time-bound physical realm in pretty much the same mess he found them.

Too often I define myself by my ability to have an impact on surface circumstances. I wear myself out trying to solve the problems of the world and fix the pain of life. It is hard to walk away.

Jesus was able to leave needs unaddressed because he knew he had come, not to fix all the brokenness of life, but to “proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.” Jesus came to announce that the “kingdom”/ power of God is present in all places and at all times.

The radical news of Jesus is that the fullness of that power he embodied lives now in me. When I live in tune with that power, I will address those needs to which I am called, and walk away when it is necessary to leave a need unmet.

Lord, help me to follow the voice of truth that seeks to guide my life on a sustainable path.